New Programme Anouncement Zimbabwe Parliamentary Support Programme

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 October 2012 10:25 Written by onlinemediaintern Thursday, 25 October 2012 09:48

Attention: open in a new window. PDFPrintE-mail

AWEPA is pleased to announce that as of 15 October we have begun a programme in Zimbabwe with support of the European Union. The aim of the programme is to support the Parliament of Zimbabwe achieve its vision of becoming an open and participative parliament, that excels in the discharge of its duties of oversight, law making and representation; as well as anchor peace and good governance in Zimbabwe.

This programme is planned for a period of 18 months with a view that possibilities for a larger and a longer term programme to start after the next Parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe will be explored.

Background

This proposal results from extensive consultations between the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) and the Parliament of Zimbabwe between February 2010 and May 2012. These discussions resulted into, among other things, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between AWEPA and the Parliament of Zimbabwe in 2011 (attached); and this proposal seeks to give effect to the spirit of this MoU.

As the result of discussions undertaken by the leadership of the Parliament of Zimbabwe and the President of AWEPA, the Parliament of Zimbabwe invited AWEPA to carry out an exploratory visit, in order to discuss the possibility of future cooperation. This visit took place in 2010 and discussions were held between AWEPA and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Lovemore Moyo, the President of the Senate, Hon. Edna Madzongwe and two of the three Chief Whips of the House, Hon. Joram Gumbo (ZANU-PF), Mr. Innocent Gonese (MDC-T). Follow-up discussions took place in 2011 and at the beginning of 2012.

After extensive discussions about the general political situation in Zimbabwe and that of the Parliament in particular, a follow up mission by a technical team from AWEPA was recommended. AWEPA constituted this team which went back and sat with a team of managers and other officials at the Parliament of Zimbabwe to flesh out the required interventions in terms of staff and Members capacity strengthening to realize the interests and aspirations of the Parliament of Zimbabwe as expressed by the politicians during the previous high level meetings.

The discussions focussed on in-depth analysis of the current capacity, challenges, and needs of the Parliament of Zimbabwe. AWEPA hereby recognizes and appreciates the openness and cooperation by the Institutional and Administrative Leadership of the Parliament of Zimbabwe throughout the needs assessment missions that culminated into this proposal. The Committee Chairs in particular shared their views on areas of most interest to them, these include: Healing and Reconciliation; Budget analysis and oversight; Public hearings and outreach; Constituency relations; Constitutional review; Conflict resolution and prevention; Gender mainstreaming; Capacity of Committees and Committee staff; as well as research capacity. The need to strengthen capacity in these areas was confirmed by the Clerk of Parliament.

It should also be noted that, in keeping with the agreements made between AWEPA and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the President of the Senate and the Clerk of Parliament, drafting this proposal has gone through an elaborate consultation process between AWEPA and the Parliament; as such there is no doubt about the ownership of both the content of this proposal by the intended beneficiary - the parliament of Zimbabwe. During AWEPA’s fundraising missions in Zimbabwe, meetings were again held with the Speaker and the Clerk of parliament to reaffirm that indeed the parliament was still committed to the programme and that the interventions proposed in this document are still of high priority.

Objectives

  • To improve the quality of professional support services provided to the Members by providing high quality training to key staff in legislative and policy analysis, standard parliamentary practices and procedures, and research and drafting skills;
  • To support parliament (the relevant Parliamentary Committees) to play its role of ensuring that the next electoral process in Zimbabwe takes place in a calm and peaceful environment, by adequately debating and addressing any political, structural, legal and institutional issues in relation to the electoral process; and
  • To support the Parliament to play a leading role in debating and addressing key thematic issues such as Climate Change, Food security and Gender and Women participation.

 

 

Share |